Harvard Kennedy School

Search

The aim of The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Communications Program is to work with students to help them improve, develop, and execute their written, spoken, and digital policy communications skills, all of which are critical for professional success.

The HKS Communications Program consists of both for-credit and not-for-credit offerings. A series of for-credit communications courses focusing on public speaking and writing are taught by HKS’s communications faculty each semester. In addition, more than 60 workshops are available throughout the academic year to offer practical skills on topics including public speaking, memo and report writing, effectively using social media, blogging, and writing op-ed pieces. Students may attend as many workshops as they like. Materials from many of these workshops are featured on our website.

In addition to for-credit courses and workshops, there are also dedicated writing consultants who work within the HKS Communications Program. These writing consultants offer one-on-one consultations for HKS students during their scheduled office hours and by appointment.

The HKS Communications Program website also offers a wide variety of valuable public speaking, writing and digital communications tools including resources created by the HKS Communications Program faculty, links to workshop materials and outside resources such as dictionaries, guidelines on how to develop an argument, write citations, avoid plagiarism, research using the Internet, and edit your own work. While the program is not designed to replace English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, links are provided to ESL resources.

Each HKS student is encouraged to make use of all of the many services provided by the HKS Communications Program. Feedback and suggestions for the HKS Communications Program are always welcome.